Well, I've finished the first full draft of WiP Number 6 - title to be decided.

I'm being a little self observant around the way I feel about that.

There is a sense of relief, of satisfaction and of a job 'bloody well done'. But there is also the knowledge that now the hard work starts.

It currently sits at 24,291 words, but the first pass reread will probably boost that number by at least a thousand words. I'm trying to make a few alterations to the process I've used in the past based on my own thoughts and findings. With Russian Redemption I had a lot of people reading the script as I completed section after section. I won't be doing that this time, mainly because I don't want too many people reading and rereading as it comes together. A bit like myself, after a few reads the mind digests the content and it starts to'autofill' with more reads; any small changes or errors are then easily overlooked. This time I got five people to read it when it was half complete; no one has yet read the first draft finished script.

So, this phase of the process is to look at the notes and feedback from those five people to see what should be incorporated. Whilst I'm doing that, they will be reading the full story and hopefully I'll have that set of feedback within a couple of weeks. I'll make any changes and then I go back and read the full story. So, won't read the complete story again for at least two weeks, hopefully my eyes will not be at the 'autofill' stage,  

It's at this point that the manuscript will go to Judi (ProofreadNZ) for her to work her magic. This will be the first time she has seen any of it so her eyes are totally fresh, I think this is important for this particular book, but I'm not certain it would be as beneficial if it were a full length novel.

There will be plenty to do whilst Judi has the manuscript so I know I have a very busy month or so ahead. To be absolutely honest, this part is not easy for me but it's part of the package IF I want my book published as cost effectively as is possible. 

I have frequently testified to my own lack of patience, and this is the part that tests it the most.

I will be updating the news feed on the website with regular progress reports, for those that have registered there. For those that haven't, I'm sure I'll be mentioning it once or twice here. :-)

A book ending can always be a story beginning.